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Overview

This sprawling newspaper plant occupied an entire city block in Seattle's Cascade neighborhood. The Times production building had Boren Avenue as its west boundary, Thomas Street on the north, Fairview Avenue North on the east, and John Street on the south.

Building History

Seattle architect Robert C. Reamer (1873-1938) designed this 1930s office building for the Seattle Timesnewspaper. Construction occurred between 06/1930 and 03/1931 on the original, 135' X 68'reinforced concrete office building.

Between 09/30/2007 and 09/30/2008, the Seattle Times paper circulation went down 7.7% from 215,311 to 198,741. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer also saw a drop of 7.8%

Building Notes

For the Blethen Family, Seattle architect Robert C. Reamer (1873-1938) created an understated, concrete variation on the Art Deco Mode; in its blocky form, subdued appearance and concrete exterior, it foreshadowed WPA Moderne buildings of the mid-late 1930s.

The City of Seattle Landmarks Preservation Board designated the Seattle Times Building #5 a designated landmark on 08/02/1995.

Alteration

Various additions and alterations were made to this Seattle Times Office Building between 1947 and 1979. The first office block and printing plant were completed in 1930-1931. Another section was added to the west end of the 1931 office building in 1947. The Times made another addition to the printing plant, located due north of the 1931 one, in 1950. At this time, a parking garage, located on the property's northwest corner was completed. A long, thin, rectangular pressroom was appended onto the west wall of the 1950 Northern Printing Plant Addition in 1963. The company in 1979, erected an office addition to the southwest corner of the property, and built a new freight elevator onto the north wall of the 1950 Northern Printing Plant Addition.

Demolition

The Seattle Times Office Building #5 was razed save for the south facade of the 1931/1947 office building in 02/2017. The Vancouver-based developer Onni Group developed a two-tower office complex on the property, utilizing only the facade of the previous building. (See Marc Stiles, "Onni Group has big plans to make over 'Fairview Fanny,'" Puget Sound Business Journal, 06/21/2019, p. 2.)